Cornell Fires Lacrosse Coach After Team Hazing Suspension

Ben DeLuca was fired as coach of the
nationally ranked Cornell University men’s lacrosse team, two
months after the program was suspended over alcohol-related
hazing.

DeLuca was informed of the decision today by Athletic
Director Andrew Noel, the Ithaca, New York, school said in a
statement. Assistant coach Matt Kerwick was named interim coach
of the program, which has won 26 Ivy League titles and three
National Collegiate Athletic Association championships.

“While Cornell University recognizes the contributions
DeLuca has made to our nationally ranked lacrosse program as a
player and assistant coach, it is the university’s belief that
new leadership is required to best serve our students and to
continue our lacrosse program’s decades-long tradition of
excellence,” the school said in the statement.

It didn’t give a specific reason for the dismissal.

In three years as coach, DeLuca led Cornell to a 37-11
record and a pair of Ivy League titles. An e-mail sent to
DeLuca’s school account seeking comment on his firing wasn’t
immediately returned.

Rob Pannell, a Cornell lacrosse captain last season and
winner of the 2013 Tewaaraton award as player of the year, said
that in three years playing under DeLuca he never felt that the
coach lost control of the program.

“He knew what he was doing when it came to lacrosse, when
it came to being a coach and when it came to being a friend,”
Pannell said in a telephone interview. “When you needed to talk
about anything, he was there for you. He was as good a coach as
anyone I’ve ever played for.”

Underage Drinking

Cornell spokesman John Carberry said in September that the
lacrosse program, which finished last year ranked No. 3 in the
country by InsideLacrosse.com, was suspended for the fall
semester due to “coerced alcohol consumption” by underage
freshmen.

The suspension began on Sept. 13, and included the team’s
fall schedule and exhibition games. Players have been allowed to
practice during the ban. Men’s college lacrosse is primarily a
spring sport.

Pannell said the team and alumni thought the hazing
allegations were behind the program. He said current players he
spoke with were “surprised and dumbfounded.”

“They had no idea this was coming and are very upset with
the news,” Pannell said.

Kerwick previously served as coach at Jacksonville
University and Hobart College. Cornell will conduct a national
search for a new coach, according to the statement.

“Whoever they bring in will not have the knowledge that
Coach DeLuca had regarding the history of the program and his
relationship with alumni,” Pannell said. “Something like this
can change a program forever, and I think that’s the case
here.”